With the free agent market run dry of scoring forwards the Golden Knights could look to the trade market for help in the form of Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers.
The 4th of July has come and gone, ushering in the slow point of the NHL off-season where transactions such as player signings and trades typically come to a stand still. While some minor signings and trades may trickle in over the next couple of days, most of the GM's in the NHL have done the majority of their heavy lifting. For Golden Knight's GM Kelly McCrimmon, after seeing a mass exodus of players headlined by Jonathan Marchessault he was only able to sign former Buffalo Sabre Victor Olofsson to a one-year contract and acquired youngster Alexander Holtz from the New Jersey Devils in a draft day trade last weekend in Las Vegas. With all the difference makers in the free agent market off the board, there is one top six goal scorer available via trade that could help replace the production that Vegas lost; Nikolaj Ehlers.
Ehlers, 28, has been the talk of trade rumors ever since the Winnipeg Jets season ended at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche this Spring. Ehlers is entering the final year of his contract and the speculation is the Danish forward isn't interested in extending with the Jets. Ehlers carries a cap hit of $6M which complicates things a bit for the Golden Knights. With goaltender Robin Lehner on LTIR the Knights only have a projected cap space of $1.3M with a 23 man roster. Any deal involving Ehlers to the Knights would require the Jets taking back salary.
One player that could go back the other way to the Jets to make this deal work financially is Knights defenseman Shea Theodore. Like Ehlers, Theodore is entering the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $5.2M. With the departure of Brenden Dillon to the New Jersey Devils, the Jets depth behind star defenseman Josh Morrissey on the left side is Dylan Samberg and Logan Stanley. The addition of Theodore would solidify the Jets backend, giving them another strong puck mover and defenseman who is capable of quarterbacking a PP to go along with Morrissey. On the flip side, Ehlers would provide the Knights with much needed scoring to replace the production lost from Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson.
Ehlers was drafted 9th overall back in the 2014 NHL draft. In nine seasons all with the Jets, Ehlers has played in 605 games, scoring 201 goals, 256 assists and 457 points.
Ehlers, 28, has been the talk of trade rumors ever since the Winnipeg Jets season ended at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche this Spring. Ehlers is entering the final year of his contract and the speculation is the Danish forward isn't interested in extending with the Jets. Ehlers carries a cap hit of $6M which complicates things a bit for the Golden Knights. With goaltender Robin Lehner on LTIR the Knights only have a projected cap space of $1.3M with a 23 man roster. Any deal involving Ehlers to the Knights would require the Jets taking back salary.
One player that could go back the other way to the Jets to make this deal work financially is Knights defenseman Shea Theodore. Like Ehlers, Theodore is entering the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $5.2M. With the departure of Brenden Dillon to the New Jersey Devils, the Jets depth behind star defenseman Josh Morrissey on the left side is Dylan Samberg and Logan Stanley. The addition of Theodore would solidify the Jets backend, giving them another strong puck mover and defenseman who is capable of quarterbacking a PP to go along with Morrissey. On the flip side, Ehlers would provide the Knights with much needed scoring to replace the production lost from Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson.
Ehlers was drafted 9th overall back in the 2014 NHL draft. In nine seasons all with the Jets, Ehlers has played in 605 games, scoring 201 goals, 256 assists and 457 points.
